Srinagar, Sep 15 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his wife Payal have separated after 17 years of marriage.
In a statement issued by his office, the 41-year-old Chief Minister said "while it is true my wife and I have separated, the speculation about motives and about my future course of action are unfounded, untrue and deeply hurtful to all concerned."
Omar said he was dismayed and anguished over the "growing tide of speculation in the media about my private life,particularly the status of my marriage."
"The stories about my remarriage are completely false and concocted. It is a pity that while repeating these lies, no effort was made to ask me whether any of this is true. In the process a lot of people have been hurt," he said.
"I believe my family and I are entitled to that privacy.At this point my concern has to and will remain my young sons who do not deserve to see themselves splashed across the news channels and pages of newspapers in this manner," he said and expressed hope that media will respect his and his family's privacy.
"I am sure you will all appreciate that while my private life has gone through a period of unprecedented upheaval, I have not allowed it to affect my work in any way," he said.
"My family and I will not be issuing any more statements or taking any further questions about any of this," he added.
Payal stays in Delhi with their sons Zahir and Zamir after Omar took over as chief minister. Over the past few months, Omar has been avoiding Payal's Akbar Road residence during the course of his visits to Delhi, preferring instead to stay at Farooq Abdullah's Safdarjung residence, or at J&K House on 5, Prithiviraj Road, sys a TOI report.
Sources say that Omar and Payal's separation is by mutual consent.Sources said the split had been coming for a while, even as talk of Omar's remarriage is on.
There are two names doing the rounds - one, a friend of Omar, supposedly his choice (a highprofile mediaperson), and two, a choice preferred by his dad and his party, the sister of politician Nasir Aslam Wani. Wani, believed to be a confidante of the CM, is currently J&K's minister of state for Home.
"Omar definitely knows her well - the name that's floating online as the one he's looking to marry - but I don't think the part about her being responsible for the break-up, or of Omar looking to marry her, is correct. On the other hand, in J&K, talk of a marriage between a girl from the Wani family and Omar has been there for a while," a source told Delhi Times.
The political implications: While a divorce may do no damage to Omar's political stature in J&K, given that the marriage itself hadn't gone down too well with the conservatives, a second marriage may not be very palatable to his political support system.
